One of many nicest meals throughout our trip in Yucatán, Mexico, was a lunch at La Palapa del Tio Fito in Campeche. From the massive reed shack on the waterfront it isn’t instantly obvious that they actually know tips on how to prepare dinner. I ordered the Octopus Poc Chuc. Poc means to roast and Chuc means charcoal in Mayan, so that is octopus roasted over charcoal. Earlier than it’s marinated in Seville orange juice with herbs and parcooked. Tomatoes and pink onions are roasted above the charcoal as nicely. The tomatoes are was a salsa and the onion is marinated in Seville orange juice. The salsa is good and smoky. As usually in Yucatán, it’s served with corn tortillas, refried beans, habanero, and avocado. At Tio Fito it additionally got here with some charcoal grilled Mexican chorizo, in addition to a wedge of Seville orange.
I’ve parcooked the octopus sous vide, as that ensures will probably be tender with most taste. Octopus will all the time shrink significantly when it’s cooked; that may’t be prevented, even with sous vide.
Seville oranjge is a extra bitter/bitter sort of orange thatis used lots in Mayan cooking and will be substituted by a combination of standard orange juice and lime juice.
Elements
Serves 4 as a most important course
- 1.2 kilos (3 lbs) octopus (tentacles or complete octopus)
- 2 tsp dried Mexican oregano (or common oregano)
- 2 Tbsp contemporary minced thyme
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp black peppercorns
- juice of 1 orange and 1 lime, or juice of two Seville oranges
- olive oil to rub the octopus earlier than roasting
Sides
- 4 plum tomatoes
- contemporary cilantro
- salt
- 2 pink onions, quartered
- juice of 1 orange and 1 lime (or 2 Seville oranges)
- refried beans
- corn tortillas
- habanero salsa (click on right here for the recipe)
Directions
To make the marinade, combine the oregano, thyme, garlic powder, black peppercorns, and orange/lime juice.
Place the octopus in a big bowl with the marinade and blend nicely.
Octopus is commonly offered with added salt. When you’ve got contemporary octopus with none added salt, that is the appropriate time so as to add salt.
Vacuum seal the octopus utilizing a chamber vacuum machine, or use a ziploc bag and the water displacement technique. The octopus with the marinade is just too moist to make use of an exterior vacuum sealer like a FoodSaver.
Cook dinner the octopus sous vide for 4 hours at 85C/185F.
Take the cooked octopus out of the bag and discard the liquid. Permit the octopus to chill.
Pat the octopus dry with paper towels and rub it with olive oil earlier than grilling. Begin a charcoal hearth and wait till it’s good and scorching.
Roast the tomatoes and onions first, as they take extra time and the octopus overcooks simply. The tomatoes and onions will prepare dinner extra simply by utilizing a canopy that can mood the warmth from beneath and can flip the grill into an oven.
The tomatoes are executed when the pores and skin is a bit charred and bursts.
Take away the pores and skin and place the tomatoes in a blender or meals processor, along with a teaspoon of salt and a handful of cilantro (leaves solely).
Mix on low velocity or use the ‘pulse’, to finish up with a rough salsa. Style and alter the seasoning with salt if wanted.
The onions are executed if they’ve softened considerably and have been charred.
Chop the onions and marinate them with orange/lime juice and salt.
Grill the octopus rapidly over excessive warmth, with out utilizing a canopy, till evenly charred. Don’t overcook the octopus, as a result of then it’s going to end up dry.
The octopus needs to be crispy and barely charred, however not burnt to a crisp.
Serve the octopus with corn tortillas, refried beans, avocado, the pink onion, tomato salsa, and habanero salsa.
Wine pairing
At wine pairing dinners I’ve organized at residence for family and friends, we’ve tried the next wines with this dish:
- Vidal-Fleury Condrieu AOC 2019 (100% Viognier, France, Rhone)
- Vidal-Fleury Côtes du Rhône AOC 2021 (75% Viognier, 25% Grenache Blanc, France, Rhone)
- Ceraudo Grisara 2020 (100% Pecorello, Italy, Calabria)
- Domane Wachau Gruner Veltliner Smaragd 2021 (100% Grüner Veltliner, Austria, Wachau)
- Vermentino di Gallura DOCG Surrau Sciala 2021 (100% Vermentino, Italy, Sardinia)
- Castro Candaz Ribeira Sacra DO La Vertical 2020 (100% Godello, Spain, Galicia)
All of those are full bodied white wines with comparatively low acidity and never too dry. The very best mixture was the Condrieu, a implausible wine and in addition implausible with the dish. The identical vineyard additionally produces a less expensive Côtes du Rhône of just about the identical grape varieties from nearly the identical space, however not from the realm of the Condrieu appellation contrôlée and due to this fact at a cheaper price level. That wine shouldn’t be as advanced, however matches the dish nearly as nicely. The Vermentino and Pecorello had been additionally good matches for the dish. The Godello and Grüner Veltliner didn’t work as nicely when utilizing the spicy habanero, as a result of the acidity in these wines accentuates the spiciness.
